Data-Mining: It Isn't Just for Catching Terrorists Anymore
From The Blotter at ABC News: FBI Acknowledges: Journalists Phone Records are Fair Game
[It] was wrong to suggest that ABC News phone calls were being “tracked.”
“Think of it more as backtracking,” said a senior federal official.
To paraphrase Rachel Maddow, (host of the most— if not only —listenable show on Air America,) from this morning: This goes against what the official story has been— that they’re doing this to fight terrorism —what you’re told to make you feel good about domestic spying. They’re using this kind of information to crack down on investigative reporting. [Maddow said it differently, and my impression is, much better… Do transcripts, Rachel!]
The more one thinks about all of this— and by “this” I mean leaks to journalists revealing the existence of “anti-terrorism” domestic spying programs which in turn are being used to spy on journalists covering, among other things, domestic spying programs —the more it’s like crawling into a conch shell, following the walls as it turns in on itself, and reaching the middle where things get narrow, and one gets all cramped and curled up, and it starts getting stuffy and hard to breathe.
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Stump Lane 
To me, this will be the long-lasting legacy of Bush II; they were dangerous paranoids hell bent on destroying their political enemies. Much of what has transpired, and will probably be revealed over the years, shows how they try to ruthlessly squash enemies. Remember when the reporter asked Gen. Hayden if the NSA would spy on political enemies and he didn’t respond? They want to intimidate would-be leakers because they know if this shit gets out, somebody’s going to jail.
Seems to be the same thing Nixon is rememberd for.
If he is remembered for that, it will be a good thing. It will mean that we have recoverd from his fuck-ups. Which is better than having someone to remember as the guy who destroyed America.